Is Knight any good to start out with?

I would go reefer because food is a necessity = better chance of consistent miles and less sitting without a load.

Plus you still can get those dry van miles when they may not have a refrigerated load.

Good luck!

 

I don't care for Prime a whole lot, but that kind of goes with any mega. I will say tho out of all of them Prime's Training is by far the best. They require alot from you to make sure you when you get turned loose you have at least a half of a clue of whats going on. Stay safe and hope it all works out for you.

 

Just from my observations from the road, I have to agree with this. Prime may be slow as all heck, but it seems like their drivers know what they're doing. I've never had one do something stupid around me.

 

A made a living pulling dry vans and reefers. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Refrigerated food is a luxury that people pay for. If nobody is buying anything that's hauled in dry vans then nobody is earning to purchase pre made foodstuffs. You're going to make $50-60 k annually pulling either a dry van or reefer, makes no difference.

 

I thought I'd add to this rather than start new. In SF Bay, got accepted to Phoenix Squire Training.
I want to run through all 48 states doing OTR and run like crazy after training. 3000 miles a week.
My hometimes will be split between SF Bay and Albany NY every 4-6 weeks for a couple days.
Goal is to get experience and bank $$ for first year then switch over to OTR or NE flatbed company.
Will Knight get me the miles once I get the training wheels off?
What is good terminal to work out of to be most productive?
Is Squire training top notch or just basic?

I have a choice between Swift and Knight.

Knight recruiter was very knowledgeable and answered all questions which makes me like Knight more.
I see they have 3 youtubers now so maybe desperate for drivers or looking to fix a bad reputation?

I just want to learn as much as I can and run as much as I can.
Is Knight a better starter company if I keep it simple and drama free?

 

Generally speaking, you'll be as successful as your Driver Manager allows you to be.

Mixed with your work ethic, reputation and reliability.

It won't take long to show your worth, with the right Driver Manager .. you'll be satisfied.

I could tell you I get "this" amount of miles a week average and another driver's number could be more or less.

I know nothing about swift, but one of those YouTubers is the reason why I'm at Knight Reefer and I have no absolute complaints.

I'm out of one of the southern terminals, what I like most is how small the operation department is, I think it has been a key to my success.

 

That's good to know and thanks. I figured it would be teamwork like that. Did you train at Knight? I start 10/10. According to recruiter it's a 2 week accelerated course in Phoenix, tested by 3rd party for CDL then back to Cali to transfer license. Picked up by trainer for 4 weeks OTR then 30K solo miles @.32 cpm. Was going to go with Swift but hard to understand recruiter, fast talker, southern accent. Knight recruiter was pretty well up front, detailed and legible...

 

Sorry I wasn't trained by Knight.

As far as choosing your first company I believe your on the right track, following your gut and simply going off the representatives of the company.

There is definitely money in trucking.

Good luck, be safe!

 

I drove for Knight out of PHX running dry vans. Most of the trips I ran were from PHX to Oregon, Washington or California. I told my DM this is what I wanted and I was hooked up consistently with this routing. Running the same areas breeds familiarity and that's always a plus when it comes time to park for the night.

My DM was Isaac Madero and he was a great DM, no issues at all with the guy once we established a rapport. Having prior experience with Swift, but not in the truck for over 6 months, they sent me out with a trainer for about 4 days. Not a big problem, as the trainer liked to be home every weekend and only ran into SoCal and back mainly.

They put you up at the Comfort Inn, which is a great place to stay. The terminals are in very nice shape, but I didn't care for the automated food checkout in PHX.

I was issued a 2014 Freightliner Cascadia with an auto trans. No problems with it at all. The only problem I had with the company was the lack of empty trailers available out of the Phoenix yard. Lots of times I had to bobtail over to Frys, TJ Max, Target or Albertsons in search of an empty at 0400 in the morning. A real pain in the ###, but to be successful you have to do it.

During orientation they have you drive a Dodge van around with other people and they use the "Smith System". Google that for more info. You are critiqued on your general driving, even though it's not a commercial vehicle. I didn't care for it, but it's part of the hiring process.

If you want to drink at all, you cannot have the truck in your possession. This means you cannot check into a hotel and drink, or even take the truck home and drink. This was the worst part about working there. They also have a no U turn policy, which grounds for termination when you get caught. I didn't have a camera in my tractor and I'm not an idiot, so I didn't get caught.

I finally got tired of trucking again and only lasted there for just under 3 months. They treat their drivers better than other companies, but still have a high turnover rate.

The also have a bonus system, but it is very difficult to meet the criteria running the routes and loads I had. I never counted on getting it and I wasn't there long enough.

With all of that being said, I probably would not go back there. Swift didn't have as many rules as they have.
I will try Schneider next, if I decide to renew my CDL next year. The money is barely worth it.